I'm Home
by Dragon Master Alpha
Summary: [One Shot] After Riku and Sora defeat Xemnas, they and Kairi are finally back home with their friends and families. If you are Sora and Kairi fans and want to read a great ending to KH2, read this and review it when you love it! Contains spoilers to KH2


One Shot After Riku and Sora defeat Xemnas, they and Kairi are finally back home with their friends and families. If you are Sora and Kairi fans and want to read a great ending to KH2, read this and review it when you love it! Contains spoilers to KH2.

It's not exactly short, but, trust me, you'll love how it ends!

Oh, yeah. And I don't own Kingdom Hearts 2 (cries).

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I'm Home

I'm home. I'm actually back home. No matter how often I would repeat that thought to myself it would always still seem too good to be true. Even though several days had passed since Riku, Kairi and I had returned to our island, my state of mind was still adjusting to "home." My thoughts weren't of disbelief or illusion, but of an incomprehensible happiness.

When we first arrived back on our island, we went into town and back to our families. My parents were just overwhelmed with joy over my presence, knowing that I was safe and, most of all, alive. Riku and Kairi's family both felt the same for all three of us. I, of course, gave much credit to Donald, Goofy, and King Mickey for being there for me and, above all, each other. Then, over the next couple of days, we all regaled our friends and families with our stories of heroism from the months and even years passed. After everything was all said and done, Donald, Goofy, and the King set out back to their castle and, like all other worlds before, promised to come and see us again.

Even though they had left the islands, Riku, Kairi, and I continued to reminisce with our families about what we had been through. At this stage we were only filling in the details that were left out of our original synopsis. Soon thereafter, I began to get a bit overwhelmed, though, and needed a break so I stepped outside for a moment and sat to rest. I was soon joined by Riku. He sat beside me and we began to converse.

"Getting tired, Sora?"

"Yeah," I said as I yawned, "After a few days of this you start to come down."

Riku nodded. "Yeah, but it still feels good to be home, right?"

I agreed. "Hey, Riku…" I turned to him. "Castle Oblivion…"

"What about it?"

"Well, its just weird. I can't recall anything about it, but you and Namine remember what I forgot, but I've learned about what happened there, but it was during the year that I can't remember a thing…," I shook my head in an attempt to break my rambling confusion, "I guess what I'm getting at is that I should thank you. You chose to finish off Ansem and go on to fight in the dark realm rather than sleep, the way I did. That led to you bringing Roxas back to me and making me wake from my sleep." I looked at him. "And you shouldn't feel guilty for using the darkness as your source of strength. You did it for your friends and that's what matters."

At first he was silent for a moment, but then he lifted his head, looked at me and smiled. "Thanks, Sora," he said while extending his hand to me.

I smirked and shook his hand. "Heh, heh…"

"What?" he asked while letting go of his grip.

"Your becoming a bit of a sap too, ya know?"

"Shut up…" I snickered and Riku shoved my shoulder. "Your still the _total_ sap, Sora."

"Whatever," I said while returning his gesture. Then we sat silently for a bit gazing over the town. "Hey, Sora."

"Yeah, Riku?"

"Just so you know, I don't feel guilty anymore, …about using the darkness for my strength. You helped me see through that a while back."

I nodded, "Good."

The silence returned for a moment. I looked out to where our island lay in the ocean's mild wake. Then I began to ponder my memories that I had amassed there over the years.

However, those thoughts were soon broken by Riku's voice. "I guess we should head back inside now."

I paused. "…No. You go ahead."

"Still need a break, huh?"

I shook my head, "No. I'm going back." I got up and began to walk.

"Back? Back where?" Riku asked with a puzzled look on his face.

I looked over my shoulder at him and grinned. "Our island…"

"Alright… Want company?"

I shrugged. "Na. I'll be alright. Besides, don't want to leave Kairi by herself in there."

He nodded. "Okay."

Why did I go alone? I suppose I wanted to be left to my thoughts as my state of mind continued its adjustment to "home."

-

Upon arriving, I secured my boat to the dock near the beach. It felt strange though. I had never gone by myself before then. Whether it were Riku, or Kairi, or Titus, whoever, my friends would always join me. Despite this, I shook my feeling of isolation and began to walk. Where, you might ask? Everywhere; rekindling my most cherished times. I stood where the sea met the earth. I felt the energy of the waves as they gently touched the sand that sank a little with every step I took. I climbed the old, oak steps of our tree house where we would play our games of fantasy as we looked out over the ocean's horizon. I walked up the stairs of the old wooden shack where we all stored our belongings for the time that we occupied the land. At the top of the stairs, I departed through the upper door, jumped down, and headed to the other side of the islet. There, I found the old, rundown bridge that Riku and I used to race across. I made my way across it, hopping over its voids along the way. Finally I came to a halt on that side's shore and smiled. The raft that the three of us had built was still there, lying half way between land and sea. However affected by the elements, it managed to maintain it's structure which I then examined with my eyes and hands.

I made my way back to the other side of the island through the palm trees and the passage, then ended my past's renaissance by sitting on the curved Poupu tree established on the small atoll connected by the bridge that led off from the wood shack. Here, the three of us would often end our days on the island here and watch the sun set as the day came to a close. Once again, the sun had begun to fall behind the horizon as dusk approached for the night. I picked a Poupu fruit that was hanging from one of the limbs of the tree and examined, even admired, it's features. As I stared, I thought of Kairi and how I wanted to share one with her. Even if the legend of it's heart binding powers weren't true, I still felt a strange implication of symbolism was attached to it. You might say, it's the thought that counts.

As night encroached on the day I decided to head back home. I hopped off of the tree trunk and placed the Poupu in my pocket as I proceeded. On my way back to my boat, I passed and remembered the one landmark that I should have never forgotten. The cave. The secret place, we used to call it. I concluded that there was enough light left in the day to look through it before I turned in for the night. I had to get on my hands and knees to crawl inside. I guess I really _had _grown over my journey. I then regained my footing, dusted myself off, and walked to the end of the narrow tunnel where the heart of the cave lay. Despite the imminent darkness, the cavern was rather well lit. Light radiated through the opening at the crown of the cave from the vivid, full moon as it rose for the night.

I began by placing my hand beside the eastern wall and slowly moved it along the gallery of my childhood. With each following image, an old memory became renewed; each one more pleasant than the last. And finally, I had reached the last image of that wall: me and Kairi. The picture that we had drawn of each other when we were younger. It was the one that I had added to; of me giving here a Poupu fruit. But I noticed something different about it; something that wasn't there before, and that something filled me with a sense of warmth and tenderness. Kairi had added an image of her own. She was giving me a Poupu, too. I let out a sigh as my body relaxed, my heart soared, my face smiled, and my eyes looked intently at the stone engraved picture that said so much.

-

"I see you found it."

I took my hand off of the wall and turned in the direction of that familiar voice. It was Kairi.

"Yeah…" I nodded and she began to walk in my direction.

"Why did you come here by yourself?" she asked.

"I just needed to get away for a bit. I guess I'm still adjusting to being back home. Its been so long. I needed a refresher… How did you know I was here?"

"Riku told me," Kairi answered as she approached me. Then she smiled and turned to our sketch of each other. "When did you draw that, Sora?"

"On the same day we finished the raft, right before our island was taken by the Heartless… You?"

"…On the day I got back." She paused and walked over to the other side of the engraved rock and sat against the door that held our world's keyhole, then continued to look at our portrait. "You know, …when I first saw what you had drawn, …I cried."

"Why?" I asked as I sat between her and the rock trying to find a comfortable spot between the various protrusions of the surface. She began to speak, but stopped due the wriggling of my back against the cave wall. I yielded no successful position.

Kairi grinned at me and moved herself aside, patting the ground beside her, allowing room against the door for the both of us. It was a tight squeeze, but we managed to share the space in very close proximity.

She spoke again, fixated on our rock. "Well, I came to it the same way that you did. I was just wandering around the island, getting used to being back home. And everywhere I would go, I was reminded of you and Riku. But neither of you were around: We were literally worlds apart. And that made me feel alone and depressed . I wanted to cry," she said with a saddened look, "but I held it in. Then I came to the secret place and saw our picture and what you had drawn…" A smile transpired from her expression. "That made me happy. My feelings of loneliness were outweighed by your feelings… for me…"

As she spoke, she slowly crept her hand closer to mine that rest on my knee and interlaced her fingers with mine. I looked at my hand, now joined by Kairi's, then looked at her, blushing heavily. Our eyes met for a second, but she soon returned her attention to the rock.

"And that was when I cried. I wasn't crying because I was sad… or because I was happy, really. It was a mix of emotions, I suppose. But, regardless, I had a smile on my face and hope in my heart, hoping that you would soon come back home." She took a deep breath and sighed, followed by a tear that ran down her left cheek.

I turned to her with my side to the door and gently wiped the tears that flowed from her soul with a single stroke from my free hand. I smiled. "I'm here now,… aren't I?"

She was silent for a second then gave my eyes a quick glance, let go of my hand, closed her eyes, and fell over my chest. I caught her in my arms and she began to cry into my shirt while her arms enveloped tightly around me. Disregarding her unexpected reaction, I returned her affection, wrapping my arms around her as she continued to dampen my shirt with her tears of emotion.

At first I was confused by Kairi's actions but I soon realized that she was crying from a sense of longing and delight. I think, at that moment, it just hit her: We were truly back in our world, back in each other's arms, and that we were there to stay. I continued to let her cry and, as she did, I caressed the back of her neck with my hand and slowly ran my fingers through her crimson hair while her head laid on my shoulder.

After a short while, she had stopped crying, yet persisted to nestle in my arms. I didn't mind. I just continued to stroke her neck and brush her hair with my fingers. She felt so warm against my body; heat warm, but something more than that, too. It felt so right to hold her that way, so inviting, so tender, like… home. My heart pulsated within my chest where Kairi's head was resting. She laid there as if she were listening to it; listening for something that it might have wanted to say. It did. I wanted to tell her how much I missed her, how much I wanted to see her face again, how much she truly meant to me. But I couldn't. I was so captivated by our emotional atmosphere of serenading silence, the words that I had conjured up would lay in wade for a little longer. At the time, it was like nothing needed to be said. I would just wait until the right moment, until the perfect moment, would transpire.

Soon thereafter, Kairi left my hold and turned so that her back was against my chest and her face was illuminated by the moon's light. I cradled her in my arms as her head relaxed on my shoulder again. She clenched her hand to mine, them lifted her fingers and manipulated mine making our hands flat against the other's. Fingertip to fingertip and palm to palm, we sat in that tranquil stillness. This was that moment. It was _the_ moment. But Kairi was the first to speak.

"…Sora?" she said in a soft, yet audible, voice.

I looked down at her. "Yeah, Kairi…?"

A long pause followed. Then she turned her head towards me and our eyes met, hers gleaming like sapphire stones in the moonlight. It was right at the tip of my tongue, but I was so entranced by her gaze that reluctance and nervousness pecked at my stomach obstructing me from getting much less than a breath to leave my lungs. Thus, it was Kairi whose words prevailed over mine.

"…I love you…"

My heart skipped a beat. Her words sent my conscience into a deep lull devoid of all senses, all sensations, all feelings except for one: love. For that split second, all other emotions left my being.

I slowly inched my head closer to hers, gazing deeply into the glistening gates of her soul and smiled, finally able to disclose the words from the deepest reaches of my heart. "…I love you, too, Kairi."

We crept closer and closer to each other until our foreheads touched, then closed our eyes, and joined our lips in a kiss,… our first ever. Kairi firmly pressed her lips against me, parting them slowly from mine as I returned her caring force. My heart raced from the touch of her tongue as it resonated with mine. Our fingers spread and weaved between the other's and we clasped our hands together, still locked in our lips' embrace. More sensations began filling that deep lull changing it into a flash of exhilaration and excitement.

When our kiss came to an end and our lips separated, I opened my eyes looking at Kairi with her eyes still closed; lost in the brief moment of passion. She opened them only to see my blushing cheeks and a firm grin of delight on my face. She mirrored my expression and her face beamed with a rose blush followed by a simple yet strong declaration of affection.

"I'm glad you're home, Sora…"

"Glad to be home… and back with you, Kairi."

She moved her body from my arms back against the cavern door and as she did, released her hand from our clutch, wrapped it around me, and pulled me closer causing me to change my position to hers. Then she placed her head over my shoulder while wrapping her other arm around mine; cuddling my body. I went limp, rest my head over hers, and let my eyes shut. The previous calm had returned. We just sat in its daze for a while, listening to each other's heart beat, both of us engulfed in our moment of romance.

-

"Awww. Don't you two look adorable!"

Kairi and I opened our eyes and saw Namine with her hands clutched behind her and a sizeable smirk on her face. Embarrassment plagued our states of mind; Kairi more so than myself. Startled from the unexpected appearance of her nobody, she released her grip on me and sat up right with a pink blush plastered over her face. I suppressed a laugh brought on by her appearance as discomfiture quickly spread through her consciousness.

Namine leaned toward her with a gleeful expression, "Oh, Kairi. You don't have anything to be embarrassed about. I think you two look cute together."

I placed my hand over Kairi's and grinned. A smirk crept from her face and with that she was able to shake her feeling of awkwardness and smile.

I then turned my attention to her nobody. "I'm glad you showed up, Namine."

"Oh, really?" she said as she sat down across from me. "Why is that, Sora?"

I let go of Kairi's hand and sat up straight against the wall. "I… I remember now…"

"Remember what?" she asked.

"Castle Oblivion."

"Wh-what? …Really?!"

I nodded. "Yes. I remember it for myself now; not just from stories. I can recall

everything: the other members of Organization XIII and the battles I had with them, the fake Riku that Vexen made as one of his experiments, …and you. I remember you pulling apart the chains of my memories and creating others in their place the higher up I went in the castle. Heh, I remember… forgetting."

Then she dropped her head and her previous smile turned to a frown. I think that I had brought back her old memory of feeling guilty for what she had done.

"Hey, don't feel bad, Namine," I said as I placed my hand over hers. "Heh, heh. I also remember forgiving you."

She lifted her head and smiled again. "You're right, Sora… But… how is it that you can recall all of this?" she asked.

"You don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"After I defeated Marluxia, you took me, Donald, and Goofy to the pods that we would sleep in. When they left, I asked you if I would ever recall what we had just been through. You said, the chains of my memories weren't broken, just removed; that they lie in the dark regions of my heart. But you told me, 'Find your light and the darkness in your heart will leave. Then you can remember.'" I turned my head to Kairi. "Well, …Kairi is my light… and I found her." Her cheeks flushed with a smile and her eyes wandered in a flutter of flattery.

Namine paused for a moment. "…You're right, Sora. I remember now."

"Do you recall our promise, too?" I asked.

"Promise?"

"Yeah. Our promise to stay friends." I reached into my pocket and pulled out the Poupu fruit I had picked earlier. "We made a promise that, even though you thought I wouldn't remember, we would remain friends." Then I placed it in her hand. "Remember the charm? You changed it from Kairi's seashell star into a Poupu." I laughed a little. "Well, at least what looked like one."

"Yes, but… why are you giving this to _me_?"

I smiled. "Let's just say I'm returning it, to keep our promise."

I wasn't delirious. I knew that the Poupu wasn't the false one I had in the castle, but I felt that the fruit was symbolic of it and I think, deep down, Namine felt the same way, despite her moment of confusion. I believe that it _was_ the object that she derived from my memories that took the place of Kairi's charm.

Namine held it in her hands for a minute, just staring at it. Then she looked at me, with a smile across her face. "Thank you, Sora, …but I think you should keep it," she said as she handed it back to me.

"Why?" I asked with a bewildered look.

"So you can share it with Kairi--with your light."

Kairi and I turned to each other. I blushed slightly, and she gave me a gentle nod with a look that said she wanted to try it. Then I turned back to Namine and took the fruit from her hand.

"Thanks, Namine…"

She nodded. "Well, I guess I'll leave so you two can be alone now," she said ending with a significant grin. Then she stood up, walked over to Kairi, gave her a wink, then waved to me as she disappeared back into her other.

-

After Namine vanished, Kairi and I cuddled up next to each other again. She then grabbed the Poupu from me and held it in her palm.

"Do you think the legend is really true, Sora? That it really binds two people together forever?"

I placed my hand on her shoulder. "Does it really matter, Kairi? Look where we are. Look what we've gone through to get here. Do you really think a piece of fruit will bring us closer than we already are?"

She said nothing. Only a smile of agreement shone on her face as she looked into my eyes. She stood, walked around front of me, and knelt between my legs. Then she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pulled me into a hug while letting out a sigh. I did the same, clasping my hands together behind her back and pressing my body against hers in a strong grip,…just like our reunion in the world of the nobodies. The memory of that time flowed over me.

I could recall when we first made eye contact after being separated for so long. She said that she came looking for me and Riku because we weren't around. I only felt sorry for leaving her alone, but Kairi, without a second thought, ran up to me and instantly enveloped her arms around my chest, resting her head over my shoulder. "This is real," she said. Her scent, her touch, the flow of her hair: They all struck distinct chords in my memories which then lead to my heart that caused my arms to wrap around hers completing a long awaited embrace. It felt the same then as it did that night in the secret place.

"I love you, Kairi."

She chuckled lightly. "What? Saying it once isn't good enough for you?" she said in a teasing manner.

I shook my head. "No. It's just… I kinda wanted to be the one to say it first. That's all."

Another vague laugh followed from her. "Hee, hee,…we both know that would have taken you forever to spit it out."

I blushed lightly. "Yeah,…probably."

A short pause ensued followed by a strengthened grip of Kairi's hug. "I love you, too, Sora."

As we freed each other from our hold, she smiled again, still holding the Poupu in her hands. Once again our eyes met, compelling us to kiss for a second time. Kairi clenched one of her hands around my neck and I took mine and placed it over her cheek as we both persisted to touch our lips together, gently, yet passionately.

When we separated, she turned around resting her head over my stomach and bent her knees bringing her legs together while still holding the Poupu in one hand and mine in the other.

"I bet it tastes pretty good, though," Kairi said while dangling the fruit by one of its leaves.

I grinned. "Oh, come on. I know that you've tried it before."

"Actually… no, I haven't." She looked up at me tilting her head back. "I've been waiting to try it with someone who might want to share the legend with me… whether it's true or not," she said as a delicate blush surfaced on her cheeks.

"Really…," I couldn't help but smile at the thought, "In truth, Kairi,…neither have I. I've been waiting, too."

Kairi's eyes deepened, "What? Really?" I nodded and she sat up from my lap resting her back over my arm. "Aw, come on, Sora!" she moaned, "How can you not want to try this now?" She brought the Poupu to my face. "Just take half, already!"

I smiled only from the cuteness of her prodding. "Okay, okay already." I took one side of the Poupu and then we broke it in two. We looked at each other and Kairi grinned profoundly, causing me to do the same, and then we began to eat at the legendary fruit. As I ate, although I felt no binding of our souls, my taste buds felt a sweetness similar to that of Kairi's persona and touch. Other than that, it was just another fruit.

We spent the rest of that night in the secret place, keeping warm from the heat of our touching bodies. We simply talked. She spoke to me about the year that she slowly began to forget who I was, but how, despite that, she was able to muster her feelings, that had not been lost, into a letter. I talked to her about the parts of my journey when there wasn't a minute spent that I hadn't been thinking about her. And we both elaborated on the origins of our feelings for each other. It was a real night of emotional intimacy for us. There wasn't a word the flowed from her lips that I did not value nor a pulse from my heart that Kairi didn't cherish.

Now, every day on my home world, I awaken knowing that the people closest to me are nearby; not that I must further plan how to reunite with them. These days, I often find myself sitting on the tree of my island that I can call my own, next to the girl I will forever love and who will forever love me, and across from the person who is, and will remain, my best friend, always. And because of all this, I smile and realize--that I'm home.

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I originally wrote this story maybe six months ago, but I was so inspired by this one picture I found on Deviantart that I just had to redo it. I'm glad I did to because I ended up creating an extra event, more thought from Sora, and a better ending in general.

Two things I need you to do if you read this fic: First, go to this website and check out the picture that inspired me to rewrite my story and see how great the artist did capturing that moment.

Go to www. deviantart .com and under search type in "What Lies Beyond the Story." It's the first picture. Sorry I counldn't give an actual link. For some reason, Fanfiction doesn't like URLs.

Second, please leave me a review if you could. Need feedback. In-depth compliments or constructive criticism are both greatly appreciated!


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